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Unique neuron that computes like a compass identified

It's 5 p.m. as you leave the parking garage at work, but you realize you have no idea which way to turn to travel home. You know where you are and what street your house is on--it's just that you can't remember how to get there.

5 Feb 2020

Novel hydrogels degrade while stem cells flourish for tissue repair

Baby diapers, contact lenses and gelatin dessert. While seemingly unrelated, these items have one thing in common -- they're made of highly absorbent substances called hydrogels that have versatile applications.

4 Feb 2020

New treatment target for acute kidney injury prevention revealed

Up to 10% of patients who are hospitalized or undergo surgery will experience acute kidney injury, and as many as 50% of patients in intensive care units will meet the criteria for AKI, the National Kidney Foundation has determined. Some of these patients will progress to kidney failure within months.

4 Feb 2020

New handheld 3D skin printer accelerates healing of large burn wounds

A new handheld 3D printer can deposit sheets of skin to cover large burn wounds - and its "bio-ink" can accelerate the healing process.

4 Feb 2020

3D-printed scaffolds engraved with grooves hold promise for healing injuries

Who ever said bioengineers can't get their groove on? The Rice University team led by Antonios Mikos says otherwise with its development of a groovy method to seed sophisticated, 3D-printed tissue-engineering scaffolds with living cells to help heal injuries.

4 Feb 2020

4D-printed microneedle array could replace painful hypodermic needles

Painful hypodermic needles may not be needed in the future to give shots, inject drugs and get blood samples.

4 Feb 2020

Advanced X-ray combination technique aids tuberculosis and osteoporosis research

With an advanced X-ray combination technique, scientists have traced nanocarriers for tuberculosis drugs within cells with very high precision.

4 Feb 2020

Gut microbes in wasps help overcome pesticides

An intriguing study published in February 2020 in the journal Cell Host & Microbe reports that when wasps are exposed to atrazine, a commonly used pesticide, the gut microbiome undergoes changes that help them overcome the ill-effects of the exposure. In addition, the changes are passed on to the offspring, which means that the next generation will also inherit atrazine resistance even without being exposed to the chemical.

4 Feb 2020

Making it all work: brain-dependent immune activation in embryos

How does the immune system develop its functionality? This has been an ongoing area of research for biologists. Now, a new study published in the journal NPJ Regenerative Medicine in February 2020 shows that in very early fetal life the brain must signal directions to the developing immune system to help it defend the body from infectious agents. This signaling markedly improves the capability of the embryo to survive when faced with bacterial infection.

4 Feb 2020

Novela Neurotech joins hands with UCSF to break down neurodata borders

Just as computer scientists developed standards to deliver digital content across the globe to your laptop, neuroscientists are working to break down barriers in data sharing.

4 Feb 2020

Study reveals new strategies to prevent skin scarring

A new study in Burns & Trauma, published by Oxford University Press, reveals promising new strategies to prevent skin scarring after injuries.

4 Feb 2020

Renal stem cells can be isolated from urine

Researchers from the Institute for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine at the medical faculty of Heinrich Heine University-Duesseldorf under the directorship of Prof. Dr. James Adjaye have developed a protocol for the reproducible isolation and characterization of kidney stem cells, urine-derived renal progenitor cells (UdRPCs) from donors of distinct ages, gender and ethnicity.

4 Feb 2020

RNA affecting skin cancer progression discovered

Researchers at the University of Turku, Turku University Central Hospital, and Western Cancer Center have discovered a new RNA molecule, PRECSIT, which regulates the growth and invasion of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin.

4 Feb 2020

New step toward understanding cancer prevention in evolutionary terms

A new Scientific Reports paper puts an evolutionary twist on a classic question. Instead of asking why we get cancer, Leonardo Oña of Osnabrück University and Michael Lachmann of the Santa Fe Institute use signaling theory to explore how our bodies have evolved to keep us from getting more cancer.

4 Feb 2020

People with ASD have cellular abnormality that impairs myelin production, study reveals

People with autism spectrum disorder appear to suffer malfunctions in a cell that produces a special coating around nerve fibers that facilitates efficient electrical communication across the brain.

4 Feb 2020

Researchers develop an emergency stop switch for CAR T-cell therapies

Immunotherapy, unlike chemotherapy and radiotherapy, arms the body's immune system to attack cancer cells. In recent years, it has proven to be remarkably successful at treating leukemia, lymphoma and other liquid cancers, or cancers present in body fluids.

4 Feb 2020

BACH1 gene regulator facilitates pancreatic cancer metastasis

A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Japan's Tohoku University has found that a gene regulator, called BACH1, facilitates the spread of pancreatic cancer to other parts of the body.

4 Feb 2020

New way to classify pituitary tumors could lead to better diagnoses

Houston Methodist neurosurgeons and neuroscientists are looking at a new way to classify pituitary tumors that could lead to more precise and accurate diagnosing for patients in the future.

4 Feb 2020

Elevated pre-meal blood sugar levels in pregnant women linked to adverse outcomes

Pregnant women diagnosed with diabetes who have elevated fasting (pre-meal) blood sugar levels are more likely to face complications than those who have only elevated post-meal glucose levels, according to a new study by a University of Alberta research team.

4 Feb 2020